Following the lead of President Joe Biden’s pardon of simple marijuana possession, Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healy recently announced plans to issue a series of pardons for those convicted of misdemeanor marijuana possession...more
There have been several recent changes impacting employers in jurisdictions across the nation. Read on to see if any of them apply to you. California- Effective 1/1/2024- Under S.B. 848, employers must allow eligible...more
In 1995, Bryan David Range pleaded guilty to one count of making a false statement to obtain food stamps in violation of Pennsylvania law and faced up to five years’ imprisonment. Following the conviction, Mr. Range attempted...more
Key Points: A recent Superior Court case found the filing of an unsuccessful motion in limine to preclude a prior conviction does not preserve the issue on appeal if the defendant strategically chooses to then introduce the...more
A prior article reviewed a decision of the Wisconsin Supreme Court which dealt with the relationship between the workplace and an applicant’s prior domestic violence convictions (Cree, Inc., v. LIRC). This article will...more
The 2018 Farm Bill, which legalized the cultivation and possession of hemp at the federal level by removing it from the list of controlled substances, is set to expire in September 2023 (the Farm Bill expires and is updated...more
On March 10, 2022, in the case Cree Inc. v. Labor and Industry Review Commission (Cree), the Wisconsin Supreme Court issued a 4-3 opinion holding that the employer’s recission of a job offer based on a domestic violence...more
On a single evening, William Dale Wooden went on a spree, burglarizing 10 units in the same storage facility. The question resolved in the Supreme Court’s somewhat unanimous decision in Wooden v. United States is whether,...more
The California Department of Fair Employment and Housing (“DFEH”) recently announced a new effort to identify and correct violations of the Fair Chance Act. The Fair Chance Act, which was enacted in January 2018 and is...more
Five more judges on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit agree with their colleague that courts must not “reflexively defer” to the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines commentary and should instead follow the rule of lenity...more
On Oct. 20, 2021, the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH) announced a new effort to identify and correct violations of the Fair Chance Act, which seeks to reduce barriers to employment for individuals...more
The California Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH) announced a new affirmative effort to detect and correct violations of the Fair Chance Act (FCA)—California’s ban-the-box law—by using online technology to...more
On February 22, 2021, New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy signed into law sweeping legislation that not only decriminalizes state marijuana-related offenses, but also serves to vacate prior guilty verdicts and pleas, as well as...more
In McCloud v. United States, the Second Circuit (Walker, Raggi, Nardini) rejected the petitioner’s contention that a development in Circuit law following a defendant’s conviction constitutes a newly-discovered fact extending...more
France is off to a strong start enforcing Sapin II, its December 2016 anti-corruption legislation. Since the enactment of the statute, the lead French investigating and prosecuting agencies, the Parquet National Financier...more
On April 26, 2019, the Second Circuit issued another decision in Shabazz v. United States (Katzmann, Leval, Berman by designation) and denied Al-Malik Shabazz’s request for rehearing in connection with the Court’s January 4,...more
OIG maintains a list of all currently excluded individuals and entities called the "List of Excluded Individuals/Entities," or LEIE. Covered entities that hire – or continue to employ or work with – an individual or entity on...more
New Jersey’s legislature is scheduled to vote Monday, March 25, 2019 on a bill designed to legalize the recreational use of marijuana for adults over the age of 21, create a system by which marijuana and marijuana products...more
The Second Circuit (Leval, Lynch, Droney) issued a decision reversing a mandatory life sentence, finding plain error because the district court failed to apply the categorical approach when considering whether the...more
On January 31, 2019, the Second Circuit issued a per curiam decision in United States v. Thrower (Wesley, Chin, and Cote, by designation) reversing a 2017 judgment from the Eastern District of New York that reduced the...more
In Shabazz v. United States, the Second Circuit (Katzmann, Leval, Berman by designation) again addressed the meaning of “violent felony” under the Armed Career Criminal Act (“ACCA”), this time under its “force clause.” As...more
On December 10, 2018, the Supreme Court of the United States decided United States v. Stitt, No. 17-765, holding that the federal statutory term “burglary,” as used in the Armed Career Criminal Act, includes burglary...more
Following sweeping background check legislation passed in 2013 and 2014, background checks of faculty and staff have become the norm for Pennsylvania institutions of higher education. The commonwealth’s Child Protective...more
In United States v. Pereira-Gomez, a panel of the Second Circuit (Cabranes, Carney, Caproni, D.J.) issued an opinion analyzing whether attempted robbery under New York law qualifies as a “crime of violence” for enhancement...more
My great Uncle Jack was the youngest of 4 children. He followed Herschel, Zoltan, and my grandmother Rozalia. He was a troublemaker when he was a kid. One time, he gambled away the family’s ration coupons and my grandmother...more